Dear Diary
by Silent Cacophony
Summary: A new Garden cadet confides in a journal given to her by her best friend on her half-birthday. This story takes place during the original Final Fantasy VIII storyline.
1. Chapter I

"Dear Diary,  
  
You are new to me, as I am new to you, so allow me to introduce myself. I am Lasoria Melee Halose, and today I am fifteen-and-a-half years old. Alia gave you to me as a half-birthday present seeing as I have wanted a diary for quite a long time.   
  
My hair is long and black, my eyes are gray... I am quite tall, and I am happy to say that I'm probably of perfect weight. Well, if I were overweight, the Garden probably would have not accepted me. I really do hate how I look. There's nothing interesting to me at all. On the outside, anyway. The only special thing I can find in myself would be my writing talents...  
  
So now I sit in my new dormitory, filling this blank page with words. Yes, I have a new dormitory today. (I will miss sharing a dorm with Alia.) A few days ago, I applied as a student, and I was quickly accepted. Now I am no longer a junior classman but an actual cadet studying here at Balamb Garden. I was given a new dormitory, but I still await my roommate. See, it is the third and final week of winter vacation, and new students are beginning to move in. My instructor, Instructor Trepe, had said that I would probably have a roommate by tomorrow evening. Rumor has it that she is from Deling City, but that is all I know.  
  
I stayed with Mom back home at FH during the first two weeks of winter vacation, but I came back for the third week so I could apply as a student, hopefully be accepted, and move into a new student dormitory. Fortunantly, I was accepted, and look where I am now.  
  
I cannot wait for the day I graduate and become a SeeD. Beside me is a small pamphlet of information about graduation requirements. Each class I pass earns me one credit, and I need at least twenty, twenty-two being recommended. Then I take the written test, take the field exam, and then finally, as a part of the field exam, perform a real, live mission as a cadet. I am scored for my performance during the field exam, and if I do well enough, I graduate and become a SeeD. (I am not sure how well I am supposed to do, but perhaps now I should only worry about acquiring credits.)   
  
Well, it is late this Friday night, and I should probably go to bed. The earlier I fall asleep, the earlier I can wake up, unpack my things, and greet my new roommate. I only hope that we will get along.  
  
LMH"  
  
It was nearing midnight on the island known as Balamb. Crickets chirped, creatures stirred, and monsters roamed about, careful not to stumble upon any threatening enemies. It was a peaceful scene. The ocean rolled in and out in its normal rhythm, and the mountains hovered over the island, their shadows engulfing a long stretch of ocean that lie behind them. The town of Balamb seemed to glow in the distance...  
  
Lasoria Halose watched it from her dormitory window. Moonlight framed her delicate face, making it seem much more pale than it really was. Long, black hair tumbled over her shoulders like a flowing waterfall, only to stop at her waist. She was quite a beautiful young woman. She was wise beyond her years, and surprisingly, her appearance seemed to fit her maturity. If one were to simply glance at her, they would probably assume that she was at least eighteen. Her eyes always looked sad and dreary, as if she knew something the onlooker did not. They held a mysterious aura, and the dark gray hue did not make them look cheery at all. She was a few inches taller than the average fifteen-year-old, and her figure was well-shaped with their flowing curves and only somewhat muscular arms. Tonight she wore a black tank top with thin straps that crossed once in the back, and from the waist down she had adorned a comfortable pair of gray pajama bottoms.  
  
Her gaze was torn from the distant town, and they landed upon her diary that she held open in her hand. Her eyes trailed over the freshly-written words, and once she seemed satisfied with the entry, a tiny smile played with her lips.   
  
Ah, a diary! She had wanted a diary for nearly a month now, just a blank book to pour her thoughts and feelings into. When Alia, Lasoria's best friend, presented her with the gift, she was happy, excited, and anxious, all at the same time...  
  
And now she stood before the window, the gentle moonlight bathing her smiling face in blue as she read her entry. She glanced out the window again and then quickly lowered the blinds with a pull of the cord. Her bare feet shuffled a few steps toward her bed, and after she closed the book and set it under her pillow, she climbed into the covers and closed her eyes, preparing herself for a good night's rest.

* * *

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed that. I'd really appreciate comments, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is gladly accepted... I accept comments from everyone. =P  
  
Note to flamers: You flame, and I chuck coconuts at your head. Enuff said. 


	2. Chapter II

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys! xD I'm glad to know that you guys will be back to read more.   
  
Heatherky: ...Gibbs a coconut. Lol.  
  
Muse: Can do. Lol.  
  
luzzio-fiann: Omg, wow. I can't stop smiling when I read your review. I didn't think I was THAT great. Well, I'm my toughest critic, so I can't count on myself to give myself the best reviews... But, I mean, you want to look to my stories for inspiration? Wow. I'm touched, really. THANK YOU! Big hug. But seriously, do you not see anything I could improve on? Oh, and I read some of "White Christmas," and so far it's been... Interesting. LOL. I'll give it a review once I finish reading it.

* * *

"Doctor Kadowaki, please report to the Quad immediately."  
  
Lasoria stirred in her bed, her once smooth hair now mussed up and tousled.  
  
"I repeat..."  
  
Her eyelids fluttered, but they did not open. However, she was beginning to rouse from her sleep, and she slowly turned herself onto her back and sighed, her eyes still closed.  
  
"Doctor Kadowaki, to the Quad immediately."  
  
Her eyes shot open as she heard the announcement from the intercom just above her bed. Her sight was met by the bright sunshine that filtered through the blinds in long, dusty rays that painted yellow lines upon the tiles of the floor. The clothes she had worn yesterday had been tossed to the top left corner of the room from the door, accompanied by a pair of black combat boots. Beside the head end of her bed was a tiny nightstand with a lamp, a telephone, and an alarm clock that displayed 9:46 in bright blue digits. At the foot of her bed was a small dresser with an average-sized black suitcase lain atop of it. A larger suitcase sat on the floor before the dresser alongside a smaller suitcase and a leather travelbag. If she were to live here, she wasn't to pack lightly.  
  
Slender fingers rubbed at her eyes, and after staring at the alarm clock for a few seconds, she forced herself from the bed and slowly walked to her suitcase to find something to wear. She pulled the zipper tag down the side of the largest suitcase, but she had much difficulty when the zipper caught itself when she only had the suitcase open halfway.  
  
"No, not again," she muttered, yanking at the zipper. A sudden tap to the shoulder gave her self-defense reflexes a kick, and she spun around in an instant, her fists drawn up before her chest. She quickly eased and let down her guard as she saw a somewhat short (compared to her height, anyway) girl with blonde, shoulder-length hair. She had a somewhat round face covered in freckles that seemed to attack her cheeks, and a sea of dark freckles ran up and down the lengths of her bare arms. She was wearing mint green pajama bottoms and a white shirt with short yellow sleeves.  
  
"Hey, don't be so uptight. I'm Chasen," she said, giving a bright smile.  
  
'I don't remember seeing her an--... What is she doing in here? Oh!'  
  
"You're my roommate? I didn't hear you come in," Lasoria said, casually placing her hands on her hips. 'What the hell did she do, sneak in here at 3 am?'  
  
"I came in a few hours ago. Mom thought I should be here early or something," she said, rolling her eyes, "and I decided I'd try to catch a nap, but I couldn't get to sleep. I wanted you to wake up so bad!"   
  
Lasoria simply glanced at her for a moment, and then slowly, as if she were testing whether or not to speak, she asked, "Why?"  
  
"Oh, you know... Wanted to meet my roommate and all, seeing that I'm, y'know, gonna be with you for awhile," she said, flashing another smile. "I'm gonna go get dressed, and then I'm gonna go catch some breakfast. Wanna come?"  
  
Her hands left her hips, and she nodded, slowly at first, but then quicker when she was sure of her decision. "Sure, I guess. Was just getting dressed myself, actually... But the damn zipper got caught again." She turned and gave a small kick to the suitcase that lay half-open on the floor. Chasen shrugged.  
  
"I'd be no help. I can't open anything worth a flying crap. Okay, gotta get dressed." She promptly left Lasoria's room, and Lasoria gave her suitcase a hard kick. It was always giving her trouble.  
  
'So my roommate is friendly. And bubbly...'  
  
Lasoria stared at her suitcase for a moment in half-conscious thought.  
  
'...Too bubbly.'  
  
She tugged at the zipper, and it finally escaped the snag. Lasoria opened the suitcase all the way and began to rummage through the contents.  
  
'Maybe if I poke her, she'll pop.'   
  
Lasoria smiled, laughing inwardly as she pulled a plain white sleeveless shirt from the suitcase. She inspected the front, making sure that it wasn't the shirt with the ugly yellow stain. It wasn't, so she tossed it to her bed.  
  
After a short time, Lasoria had donned a pair of black-and-white camouflage cargos, a black belt, the white shirt, and her combat boots. Her pants had been stuffed into her boots, causing them to give a slight "poof" at the bottom. She had contemplated whether or not to wear her leather gloves, and after a few moments of pondering, she pulled them out of her smallest suitcase and slipped them over her hands. They were like thick leather gloves with the fingertips cut off. They were simple weapons, but along with her fists and other martial art skills, they could be lethal.  
  
Lasoria knew that the cafeteria didn't allow weapons, but they were just gloves. She could deal just as much damage without them, so why did it matter whether or not she had them there? She figured she'd try testing the cafeteria ladies' authority by wearing them inside the cafeteria.  
  
"Ready to go?" Lasoria heard. She emerged from her room to find Chasen leaning against the wall in her cadet uniform.   
  
'The hell?'   
  
"...It's the weekend, and you're in your uniform," Lasoria said. Her eyebrow twitched.  
  
"I know," she said, pulling up her stockings, "but I want to get used to wearing it."  
  
"Hnn..." Lasoria just nodded, her brow fully arched over her eye. She wasn't too sure if she was going to enjoy sharing a dormitory with Chasen, but she may have just caught wind of a bad impression.   
  
"Okay," Lasoria said, patting her pocket that was full of gil. "Let's go."  
  
"Ohh, let me do it. These panel things are sooo cool!" Chasen hurried over to the panel beside the door and pushed a few buttons. The door flew open, just like the classroom doors. Lasoria rolled her eyes behind Chasen's back.  
  
'Big, red, shiny button... Yeah, that's her.'  
  
She followed Chasen out the doorway, and, quite hastily, the door shut itself. A soft "beep" meant that it had been locked.   
  
"Oh, no! I left my ID on my bed!" Chasen cried, covering her mouth with her hands. Lasoria sighed and quickly withdrew her Student ID card from her left pocket. She inserted it into the panel, entered her Student ID number, and the door beeped and opened.   
  
"Oh, Hyne. Thanks," Chasen said, hurrying into their dorm. She was out after a few seconds, holding her new, shiny Student ID.  
  
"Anything else?" Lasoria asked, her finger dawdling at the close and lock buttons. She was beginning to become annoyed with this girl. Chasen shook her head, so she pressed the buttons. The door shut itself and beeped, just like before.   
  
"Sorry, I'm a blondie," Chasen said, pocketing her ID. Both of them began to walk down the long hall. They were silent for some time. Out of the corner of her eye, Lasoria caught Chasen giving her occasional glances, but she didn't return them. An awkward silence. Lasoria hated it.  
  
"Where are you from?" Chasen asked. It was as if she had read Lasoria's mind. Perhaps Chasen didn't like long, awkward silences, either.  
  
"FH."  
  
"Oh. Never been there. Ever been to Deling City?" Chasen gave her a sidelong glance.  
  
"Once, I think. You from there?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
Just then, Lasoria noticed that she had forgotten to brush her hair. Hastily, she ran her fingers through it, hoping to make it look at least half-decent. She didn't want to go around looking like a heathen. Chasen nudged her in the arm with a small brush and a hair tie.  
  
"Um, thanks," Lasoria said, taking the brush. She stretched the hair band over her wrist and quickly ran the brush through her hair. She handed it back to Chasen and put her hair back in a tight ponytail. It was a bit messy, but it would do.  
  
"I always have my brush and my ties with me," Chasen explained, stuffing them into her bulging pocket. They came upon the main hall and turned to the right. They walked past two fountains and then turned to the right and walked along the red path to the cafeteria.  
  
"Do they have good food here?"  
  
"I guess," Lasoria said, shrugging. "I've been here ever since I was five, so I'm used to it."  
  
"But is there a lot to choose from?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
They came upon the counter. Lasoria delved out 35 gil and placed it on the counter.  
  
"Just a carton of milk and a chocolate-chip muffin, please," she said. The cafeteria lady placed a small carton and a muffin wrapped in plastic on the counter.  
  
"Thanks. Hey, Chasen..."  
  
"Hmm, what?" She tore her eyes from the menu.  
  
"I'm gonna go to the Training Center. See you later."  
  
"I, well..." She glanced toward the tables. "Okay, 'bye."  
  
Lasoria waved and stuffed the muffin in one pocket, the milk carton in the other, and set off for the Training Center.

* * *

-cough- Hope that didn't suck. Read and review, eh? XD 


	3. Author's Note

Author's Note  
  
Hey everyone. Sorry for the huge delay. I've been caught up in some stuff, mostly about school. I've had some problems with my boyfriend. . . He's moving away soon, and we broke up for a few hours on Friday. I'm glad to say that we're back together and everything. I also just got really confused over a short, silly fight between two of my close friends. . . Lol, yeah, so. . . This is my last week of school, but I'm going to be extremely busy with all my final exam crap. I've got a million worksheets for English, 140 terms to define for Physical Science, my best story for Creative Writing. . . Then I have to organize my folders. . . Stuff like that. I started writing the third chapter today, but then I decided against it. I really didn't even write anything. . . Didn't even save the file. Been a looong day, peoples. Also, I had a bit of writer's block, but I think I know what the third chapter will be about.  
  
Augh, I think I'm getting some kind of stomach bug. . .  
  
Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys. Makes me feel really special.  
  
God, you guys cannot know how tired I am while writing this. . . 


	4. Chapter III

Author's Note: Blech, sorry for the _huge_ delay. Been caught up in things lately, but I'm back to writing this fanfiction again. And guess what? I started another fanfiction. Guess what genre it's in. LOL.

* * *

With a muffin and a carton of milk nestled comfortably in her pockets, Lasoria set off for the Training Center, a bit relieved that she had easily escaped her roommate. She only hoped that it would always be that easy to run away each time things became awkward. After turning a few familiar corners, she found herself in the fairly grassy entrance area with two secure sliding doors on the other side. This place was all too familiar to her. She had spent many hours of her life in this wing, picking on Grats and Granaldos and running from T-Rexaurs.  
  
She sat down in a corner and pulled out her small and somewhat unhealthy breakfast from her pockets. Lasoria had never honestly been sure if food was allowed in the Training Center, but neither the instructors nor the disciplinary committee had busted her for it. So she unwrapped the muffin with her left hand and teeth, her right hand opening the milk carton. No one was in the entrance area, but that suited Lasoria just fine. She was never a very outgoing person, anyway. Taking a chunk out of her muffin and a long swig of milk, she watched as a student with an annoyingly furry collar stalked in, his gunblade gleaming as it sat comfortably against his shoulder. She merely watched him, taking another bite as he stormed across the entrance area and shoved the right door open with his free hand.   
  
'What's up with him?' she thought, downing her bite with another long drink.  
  
After a few more minutes of chewing and chugging, she smashed her carton with her boot, tossed her trash in a bin, and set off through the left door, pulling at her gloves to make sure they were secured around her wrists. Between the leaves she could see the student she had seen just minutes before taking out his temper on a pair of Grats, their long whips slapping wildly at him as he slashed and shot at them with his gunblade. It was brilliant to her, how he handled the weapon, but she couldn't watch for long since a particularly stubborn Grat decided to grace her with its ugly presence.  
  
"You know, I'm really sick of looking at you guys," she said, kicking it in its would-be face, causing it to stagger backwards. It bounded back, attacking Lasoria with its long whips.  
  
"Hey, dammit! Watch where you're hitting!" She kicked it again, and as it fell over, she stomped on it. It laid there, twitching and rolling, whips flailing about and stinging her bare arms.  
  
"I don't think stomping on it will really do much."  
  
Lasoria turned around, finding herself face-to-face with her best friend, Alia. Alia was shorter than Lasoria, like most were, with long brown hair that was always tucked into some fashion against her head. Lasoria grinned, her expression cut short as the Grat hit her in the back of the head.  
  
"Hold up," Alia said, and she unsheathed her double revolvers from their holsters, loading them with fire ammo before she shot at the Grat. It died quickly, falling over as sleeping powder oozed out of its mouth.  
  
Lasoria was amazed. "Where did you get the fire ammo? That stuff is like, really expensive."  
  
"The price was cut by half last week. Haven't you been reading Weapons Monthly?"  
  
"Not the January issue," she said, scooping up sleeping powder into her satchel. "He had a lot in him."  
  
"Excuse me, but I think at least half of white stuff is mine," she said, helping Lasoria scoop up the substance. Lasoria grinned. "White stuff" was an inside joke they had formed months ago since the sleeping powder looked exactly like a drug.  
  
"So anyway, where have you been?" Alia asked, standing up. Lasoria stood, too, closing the satchel before tucking it away in her pocket.   
  
"My roommate came in today, and I went to get breakfast with her." She shrugged. "No biggie. I told her I was headin' off for here... She's way too idiotic for me to hang out with."  
  
"Oh, tough luck. I hope my roommate isn't like that."  
  
"Keep dreaming," she said, and they both laughed.

* * *

The last few days of winter vacation went by rather uneventfully. Lasoria had spent most of her time with Alia, of course, and Chasen seemed to be fitting in nicely with a group of girls just annoying as herself. But when it came time for classes to start, the laid-back attitude of Garden fell dormant, being replaced by a more serious aura. Students were rushing around, walking between their classrooms as they followed their schedules, getting a feel of the walk they would be taking each day. More and more were adorning their uniforms, weapons were seen more often, and the Disciplinary Committee was getting as uptight as ever.   
  
It wasn't until the night before classes started that both Lasoria and Chasen were given their schedules. It turned out that both Chasen and Lasoria had the same homeroom with Instructor Trepe. Chasen was ecstatic, of course, but Lasoria dreaded the morning that would follow.  
  
"Lasoria, wake up! You slept through your alarm!"   
  
Lasoria rolled over, her face being met by her alarm clock that read 7:42.  
  
"Oh, shit. We have to be in class at 7:55... Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Chasen?" Lasoria jumped out of her bed and plucked one of her clean uniforms down from the wall.  
  
"W-what? 7:55? I thought class didn't start until 8:55!" Chasen said as Lasoria pulled off her gray pajama pants and slipped on her skirt.  
  
"Must have read it wrong, because my schedule says 7:55 just like everyone else's. It even says so in the pamphlet thing I have," she said, zipping up the skirt before pulling her tank top over her head. "Be in the classroom five minutes before class starts. Class starts at 8."  
  
"I was wondering why it said homeroom was at 8:55 and class was at 8..."  
  
Lasoria sighed, rather annoyed, as she slipped on the plain white shirt that went on underneath her blue jacket-like overshirt. "No, no, homeroom starts at 8 and is dismissed whenever the instructor is finished talking or whatever... You have to be in the homeroom classroom at 7:55, homeroom starts at 8, is dismissed a little later, and then you check your schedule to see what time your first class starts."  
  
"Oh," Chasen said, watching Lasoria pull up her stockings. "Well, that makes sense."  
  
"No duh."

* * *

Alrighty, I hope that was okay. Sorry for the huge delay... I had some temporary writer's block mixed in with all the stuff I had been doing lately, but whatever. Reviews are appreciated.


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